PETALING JAYA, Aug 2 — Criminals masquerading as taxi drivers are
continuing to spread terror in the Klang Valley. The latest case
involved a Japanese national who was robbed and assaulted in
Selayang.
Despite being slashed a number of times, the 26-year-old former
flight attendant, who is in Malaysia to study English, managed to
escape.
The woman, who asked not to be identified, told The Malay
Mailshe hailed a taxi at Publika about 8pm last Friday but got
suspicious when the driver asked her if he could make a U-turn.
After 10 minutes of driving in the wrong direction, she started
feeling uncomfortable and asked the driver repeatedly to stop the
taxi.
“Every time I asked him to stop, he was silent. Finally, he turned
into a dark alley and said, ‘Do you want me to kill you?’“ she
said.
The driver grabbed her arm when she tried to open the car door.
He took out a parang from under the front passenger’s seat and
slashed her several times before grabbing her bag containing her
belongings.
“I just knew I had to escape. I managed to get out of the taxi and
kept running without looking back,” she said.
She was found unconscious and bleeding by two Samaritans, who took
her to Selayang Hospital.
While recovering in hospital, she said, she resolved to share her
experience so that other women would not fall victim.
“I am disappointed by what happened, but many Malaysians have been
kind to me.
“When women become victims of crimes they may want to keep quiet
and ignore what happened, but we must be brave and speak out,” she
said.
